How do you get cats to stop chewing on the electrical cords?

Question

My goodness. There sure are a lot of smart cat-people out there. Thank you all so much for your answers! I have had cats all of my life. I have 9 right now (all rescued), but I did not know how to stop them from chewing on the wires. I now have a lot of solutions. I appreciate all of you. Thanks again!

Answer 1

Dear Zapped-

My mother had a cat that like to chew the power cords on everything. Here is how we solved the problem.

I went to Home Depot and purchased a roll of split loom. This is a wiring harness material that is used in cars to create the looms for your enignes and electrical circuits.

I also purchased some Zip tie too.

Cut the split loom to the length of the cord and zip tie it at either end then cut off the remaining strip.

The lace the cord with Butter Apple and plug your appliance back in. When kitty goes to chew on the cord, he/she is going to get a mouth full of that nasy Bitter Apple.

Suddenly those cords are not going to be too fun to chew on any more.

The split loom is also thicker than the insulation on your power cord, and they don't like trying to bite through that. Plus because it has these little grooves in it, the Bitter Apple sits in there like little drops, but better than that, when it dries out it remains in those grooves and is ready for the day that "Kitty Forgets" and takes another bite.

I currently have one kitty that like to eat plastic bags from the grocery store. We are breaking her of that habit too.

I hope that will help you out!

Oh yes, just in cate you have multiple cords, you might want to purchase the larger diameter split loom too. When the loom is too big, (stereo equipment and computers), the cats don't even bother becasue they can't get their mouth around it.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

I know some of the office stores sell these coiled up plastic looking things you can wrap your cords in. You could try buying some and wrap the cords so they are less "chewy" perhaps. You could build a casing for the cords with wood, plastic, or fabric (like a cord cozy), or papertowel/toilet paper cardboard rolls taped together around them. Whether or not you do the permanent cord wrap, I'd definitely recommend treating the cords so they are unpleasant tasting for the cat. You can try using some cloth first aid tape to wrap the cords this alone won't stop the cat from chewing necessarily because the tape alone is pretty thin. But the cloth tape will soak up lemon, hot pepper sauce, or a pet store chewing detering spray better than the material the power cords are made of. Make sure you unplug the cords before you tape and treat them and keep them unplugged until the substance dries. You may need to retreat the cords a few times to keep the odor fresh and keep kitty away. Also, if/when you catch kittty chewing or even going near the cords, make a loud noise. He won't associate the cords with your attention but with bad noise and maybe this will help deter him. Lastly, do what you can to keep him away from the cords. If this means cat proofing a room and keeping him in it when you're out, then so be it. Even for the cat hating losers who posted that you should let him bite it and get a shock, I would point out that a frayed cord can present a shock and fire hazard to EVERYONE, not just the cat. So there's a serious need to get him to stop chewing the cords by means other than letting him get shocked.

Answer 3

A friend at work moved into a house that he and his wife had built for them. While out shopping at Christmas, the cat chewed through the wiring for the lights on the Christmas tree. The house was destroyed. The cat lived, and they still kept kitty. They make several products that are very repulsive to cats. Try a light dusting with cayenne pepper. They really hate sniffing it.

Answer 4

You can't. That's the honest answer.
So you need to make sure that they are tied up out of their way.
There is a (cheap) plastic squiggly fat snakey thing you can buy in the hardware store and cut to any length. Then you gather any cords that are lying together on the floor, and slip this plastic yoke around them. It keeps them together tidily and will stop your cats' teeth from getting through to the dangerous parts.
I assume there is something you could spray on the cords, but that is not a long-term solution, you'd have to re-do it on a regular basis, as far as I know.

Answer 5

My Aunt used a little bit of eucalyptus oil on cords and her cat stopped chewing them. (which is quite amazing because that's all he ever used to do!) There's something about the smell that puts them off.

Answer 6

there is an apple cidar spray you can spray on them as long as the cords aren't fraid. You can also use lemon juice if again the cord don't have any damage to them. Just rub the cords down and the cats will leave them alone.

Answer 7

there are products at petco and petsmart that are safe for the animals call "No Chew" put some of that on the cord and the taste will chase them away and it isnt toxic for the cat

Answer 8

I haven't tried this yet becuase my cats don't chew on cords, but my co-worker was saying she used tabasco sauce, use a thin layer of it on there-cats hate the taste and will learn to avoid it.

Answer 9

Perhaps you could try wrapping the cords in aluminum foil. Most cats can't STAND the sound of aluminum foil. You can also try spraying it with orange peel spray (away from the plugs of course). They can't stand the taste or the smell of orange peel. (Orange peel also works to keep animals off of furniture.)

I hope this helps!

Answer 10

Simple - wrap the cord with "double sticky back" tape -- kitty won't chew on something that "grabs" it first! Also works really well if kitty is clawing/chewing on furniture!